Transcription

92 many native merchants would settle on an island under British protection, that the new station would become the main centre of trade between Masqat and Basrah, and that the petty chiefs of the mainland, instead of charging import duties of 16 or 17 per cent, on British trade, would compete against one another to attract it. Tn the opinion of the Agent ft force of two ships and 300 men would be sufficient to cover the operation of transfer, and he thought there was every reason to expect that the customs receipts would be large enough to defray the expenses of any military garrison that might be required. The Bombay authorities were averse from this scheme, but they seem to have called for reports on the islands of Hanjam and Bahrain, and these were furnished in the autumn of the same year by Mr. AVood, the Agent at Bandar Abbas, who evidently disapproved of both places and was himself inclined to recommend the acquisition of a small existing fort on the south-eastern corner of Qiehm Island under a grant from the Shah or from the Khan of Lar. A few days later Mr. Wood, with the instability of whose character we shall become better acquainted hereafter, wrote to Bombay deprecating the proposed transfer altogether on the ground that the
Agency
An office of the British Government and, earlier, of the East India Company. at Bandar 'Abbas was perfectly safe, and that removal might lead to a rapture with the Persians and give an advantage to the Dutch. He had lost sight, apparently, of the inconvenience of extortions by local governors. Mr. Wood's arguments, which agreed with their own inclinations, seem to have satisfied the President and his Council at Bombay that no steps need be taken ; and the question of removal slumbered until 1/60, when it was revived, probably by the success of the Dutch settlement founded on Kharag in 1753, by the capture and destruction of the British
Agency
An office of the British Government and, earlier, of the East India Company. at Bandar 'Abbas by the French in 1759, and by the growing insolence of the local chiefs near Bandar 'Abbas. A report on the feasibility of obtaining another site having been required by the Presidency authorities from the Agent, the commandant of the Hormuz fort was interviewed by the latter, accompanied by a Captain Baillie, in the autumn of 1760; but the Persian official, though he agreed to a British settlement being formed on the island, could not be induced even by a bribe to surrender the fort, and the prospects of obtaining it otherwise, whether by force or under a grant from the Khan of Lar, also appeared doubtful. 1 he Agent moreover considered that, even apart from those obstacles, Hormuz was not an eligible,place, for supplies were non-existent, water scarce, and the fort and buildings so ruinous that it would cost Rs. 80,000 to put them in repair. The President and Council at Bombay, upon receiving the Agent s report, pointed out that he had unduly restricted his enquiries, for what

Part 1A contains an 'Introduction' (pages i-iii) written by Birdwood in Simla, dated 10 October 1914. There is also a 'Table of Chapters, Annexures, Appendices and Genealogical Tables' (page v-viii) and 'Detailed Table of Contents' (pages ix-cxxx), both of which cover all volumes and parts of the Gazetteer .

Volume I, Part I has been divided into two bound volumes (1A and 1B) for ease of binding. Part 1A contains an 'Introduction', 'Table of Chapters, Annexures, Appendices and Genealogical Trees' and 'Detailed Table of Contents'. The content is arranged into nine chapters, with accompanying annexures, that relate to specific geographic regions in the
Persian Gulf
Historically used by the British to refer to the sea area between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Often referred to as The Gulf or the Arabian Gulf. . The chapters are sub-divided into numbered periods according, for example, to the reign of a ruler or regime of a Viceroy, or are arbitrarily based on outstanding land-marks in the history of the region. Each period has been sub-divided into subject headings, each of which has been lettered. The annexures focus on a specific place or historical event. Further subject headings also appear in the right and left margins of the page. Footnotes appear occasionally at the bottom of the page to provide further details and references.

Volume I, Part IA: The sequence begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the last folio with text, on number 456. Total number of folios: 456. Total number of folios including covers and flysheets: 460.

Volume I, Part IB: The sequence begins on the first folio with text, on number 457, and ends on the last folio with text, on number 878. It should be noted that folio 488 is followed by folio 488A. Total number of folios: 423. Total number of folios including covers and flysheets: 427.